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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27392578">To Crush (on) Someone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430'>kitkatt0430</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Work In Progress Bingo [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales of Graces</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aromantic, Aromantic Asbel, Aromantic Asexual Asbel, Asbel didn't really have an easy time of it in training, Asexual Asbel, Asexual Character, Gen, Malik is still over-protective of his favorite student, One-Sided Attraction, Pascal is just the most queer friendly character to write, There are many different types of crushes, acknowledging its okay not to have crushes, aromantic humor, discussions about consent, past hazing, seriously though - crushes often get described like panic attacks, teaching Sophie about the types of attraction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:02:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,678</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27392578</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Sophie overhears a conversation about having a crush, it leads to the whole group discussing what a crush is, whether there are different types of crushes, and if some people just don't have them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Asbel Lhant &amp; Sophie, Malik Caesar &amp; Asbel Lhant</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Work In Progress Bingo [12]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977097</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Crush (on) Someone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was at one point meant to be part of a longer fic that never came to pass.  Since my notes for that story have gone missing and all I had left were handful of snippets, I retooled some of that into a stand alone fic that's part Sophie learning what crushes are and part Asbel getting some much needed support in not experiencing crushes (romantic ones anyway).  I heavily headcanon Asbel as being aspec as he's easily interpreted as being both demisexual and demiromantic in the game itself.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Asbel?  Why are those two girls talking about crushing someone?" Sophie asked, sounding completely bewildered.  "Are they planning to harm somebody?  Should we stop them?"</p><p>Amusement tugged at the corners of Asbel's mouth, but he managed to keep his expression neutral.  The last thing he wanted was for Sophie to think he was laughing at her.  "Did they say they were going to crush a person or crush on a person?  Having a crush on a person is actually a very different thing from crushing a person," Asbel told her.</p><p>"Oh.  Um... she said she had a crush on someone and the other girl said she did too.  And then they started giggling," Sophie replied, tone thoughtful as she answered.  "What's the difference, though?"</p><p>"Are we talking about crushes?" Pascal asked, dropping in to sit beside the two of them at the Inn's table. </p><p>Sophie had been the first to arrive, which must've been when she'd overheard the two girls.  Asbel joining her moments later.  Once the other three arrived, it'd be time to order dinner.  Asbel hoped they arrived soon; he was starving already.</p><p>"Oh m'gosh!"  Pascal grinned and leaned towards Sophie, "do you have a crush?"</p><p>"I'm capable of crushing people, but Asbel said having a crush on someone is something different.  I don't understand the difference," Sophie explained, sounding sad now.</p><p>"Ooooh, crushes... crushes," Pascal said in a stage whisper, "are fun.  So much fun.  Like, friend crushes."  As she spoke, Hubert and Cheria joined the table, each looking a bit bewildered as Pascal went into lecture mode.  "Friend crushes are, like, when you meet someone and they're just so exciting and cool that you get excited just at the thought of spending time with them and being friends with them.  Those usually fade down to usual friendship levels when you get to know someone pretty well.  Not always, but usually.  Aesthetic crushes are when you think someone is super pretty and just want to spend time admiring how gorgeous they are.  Like Cheria.  I bet tons of people get aesthetic crushes on you 'cause you're so pretty."</p><p>Cheria blushed.  "Thank you Pascal.  Though, if I might interject?"</p><p>Pascal nodded, "oh, of course."</p><p>"When people talk about having a crush, they usually mean a romantic crush.  That's when you like a person romantically, but you don't necessarily know if those feelings are returned."  Cheria smiled and patted Sophie's shoulder lightly.  "What brought this on?"</p><p>"I overheard some girls talking about having a crush on someone and I asked Asbel if we needed to go save that person," Sophie answered dutifully.</p><p>"Who are we saving?" Malik asked, finally completing there little party.</p><p>"No one.  We're teaching Sophie what crushes are," Pascal responded with a bounce.  "Intellectual crushes are when you find someone to be so interesting that you want to learn everything about them for science reasons.  Though I suppose it could also refer to finding someone's intelligence really attractive."</p><p>"Oh, did you have an intellectual crush on me when we first met?" Sophie asked, sounding excited now.</p><p>"Definitely, Soph."  Pascal grinned.  "I still want to learn everything about you for science reasons.  But also 'cause we're friends now and I want to help you learn all the stuff about you that you don't know yet."</p><p>"Thank you, Pascal," Sophie responded.  "I didn't have a friend crush on you, but I very much like being your friend now."</p><p>"Awww, you're so sweet!"  Pascal wrapped her arms around Sophie and rocked them back and forth for a moment.</p><p>"Those aren't actually crushes, though," Hubert objected.  "Crushes are romantic only, not..."</p><p>"Oh don't be ridiculous, Hubert," Asbel interrupted.  "Just because you're not used to them being described this way doesn't make platonic crushes not real.  It just means you get to learn something new with Sophie tonight."  He smiled brightly as Hubert glowered at him.</p><p>"Platonic?" Sophie echoed.</p><p>"Non-romantic," Malik filled in.  "And certainly there are all kinds of platonic crushes a person can experience.  Any type of attraction a person can feel could be described as a form of crush they can experience."</p><p>"It is a little strange to hear platonic crushes called that since I'm not used to it, but they've got a point," Cheria conceded, kicking Hubert's ankle lightly under the table.</p><p>"I think it's time for us to place an order for dinner," Asbel pointed out, stomach grumbling.</p><p>"I'll order it.  Water, ale, bread, and the house stew sound good to everyone?" Malik asked, getting back up.  He smiled at their chorus of agreement and headed off to the bar to place their table's order.</p><p>"Have you ever had a crush, Asbel?"  Sophie asked.</p><p>"Um... lets see... well, I definitely had a friend crush on Richard when we were kids," Asbel replied, trying to take the question seriously for Sophie's sake.  He was far too used to just making up an answer at the academy.</p><p>"Pretty sure that friend crush is alive and well," Pascal teased.  "You two were totally living in each others pockets when I first met you."</p><p>Asbel rolled his eyes.  "We were on the run from people who wanted to murder Richard.  That's really not the same thing as living in each others pockets."</p><p>"How can you live in another person's pocket?" Sophie wondered.</p><p>"It's just a saying," Cheria told her.  "It means that two people live and work so closely together that they're rarely seen without one another."</p><p>"So we're all living in each others pockets right now," Sophie declared.</p><p>"Technically," Hubert agreed, amused.  "So aside from your obvious friend crush on Richard, who else have you had a crush on, brother?"  The way Hubert glances at Cheria, however, completely bewilders Asbel.</p><p>Does Hubert have feelings for her or... does he think Asbel does?  Whatever the case, Asbel hopes he'll be more accepting than Asbel's fellow trainees from the academy.  </p><p>"No, though I'm not really disappointed by that.  The way the guys in my dorm described crushes made it sound like they were having a panic attack," Asbel responded dryly.  "How anyone can list off the symptoms of a panic attack while sounding all starry-eyed over another person, I really hope I never understand."</p><p>"So a romantic crush feels like a panic attack?" Sophie echoed, frowning deeply again.</p><p>"Of course not, don't be ridiculous Asbel," Hubert countered.</p><p>Asbel rolled his eyes.  "I'm really not."</p><p>"A crush," Cheria spoke up firmly as Malik rejoined the table, "is nothing like a panic attack.  It's like... when you see that person, you just want to be with them.  And it's so exciting be with them that you get what feels like butterflies fluttering in your chest and your heart just races.  And maybe your breathing picks up a little because you're just... breathless with anticipation.  You'll daydream about being around them when you're apart and wonder what it's like to kiss them.  It can be nerve-wracking if you don't know if they feel the same way about you, though."</p><p>"That kind of does sound a bit like a panic attack.  Just with kissing thrown in."  Sophie scrunched up her face.  "And kissing sounds gross."</p><p>"You'll grow out of that in time," Cheria assured her.  And Asbel knew she thought she was being helpful, but something inside him squirmed uncomfortably at her words.</p><p>"Not necessarily," Malik countered.  "Some people just don't like kissing.  Nothing wrong with that either.  It's always important to remember other people's boundaries when you have crushes on them.  If you want to kiss someone you like and they like you back but don't want to kiss then you should never make them feel like they have to kiss you or force them to kiss you.  But at the same time, if someone you have a crush on tries to force you to kiss them or tries to make you feel like you have to kiss them when you don't like kissing?  They're not worth your time."</p><p>"And people who are your friends will respect your stated feelings instead of trying to invalidate the way you feel," Asbel said, staring morosely into the cup of ale that Malik had pushed his way after returning with their drink orders.  </p><p>"R-right," Cheria said, correcting herself hastily.  "So you might grow out of your dislike of kissing, but its okay if you don't, Sophie."</p><p>"And don't worry if you don't experience any kind of crushes," Pascal added.  "Not everyone experiences every kind of crush and the different kinds of crushes are remarkably easy to mistake for one another.  People mistake platonic crushes for romantic ones all the time."</p><p>"So crushes center on any kind of attraction you feel towards another person, are exciting, can induce anxiety, and are increadibly confusing," Sophie summed up, a dubious expression on her face like she thought maybe they were messing with her a little.</p><p>"Exactly!" Pascal agreed enthusiastically.  "Crushes are just weird, Sophie.  If you haven't had one yet, you're not really missing out on anything.  Anyway... since Asbel told us about his friend crush on Richard, who else wants to share?" Pascal asked, bouncing excitedly.  "I had the biggest intellectual crush on my first teacher.  Right up until he got upset with me for knowing more about the eleth cycle on a micro scale than he did and Fourier shouted at him for making me cry.  He wasn't my teacher anymore after that.  What about you, Cheria?"</p><p>"I, uh, um... well..." she blushed and looked down.</p><p>"I think that's the sort of personal information we should only share if we're comfortable doing so," Hubert interrupted.  </p><p>"Well said," Malik agreed.  "I myself had my first crush on a young girl who lived down the road from me as a child.  Her father managed the dragon rental shop in town - this was, of course, before dragons went extinct and Turtlez Transports took over that particular niche of the economy."</p><p>"Oh, wow, really?" Sophie beamed with excitement.  "Like the dragon bones we found in the catacombs?"</p><p>"What dragon bones?" Hubert asked.</p><p>"Dragons went extinct a long time ago, Sophie," Asbel interjected.  "He's pulling your leg.  Like when he was trying to convince you Pascal was a fish."</p><p>"A fish?!"  Pascal turned to Malik, an offended expression on her face.  "Excuse you, I am a landshark!"</p><p>"My apologies," Malik replied solemnly before they both cracked up.</p><p>"What dragon bones?" Hubert repeated, more insistently this time.</p><p>"In the Barona catacombs," Cheria told him.  "They're behind the door that Asbel declared vengeance on when we were there as kids."</p><p>"Did you have to bring that up?" Asbel groaned, flushing with embarrassment.  </p><p>"It is pretty funny," Sophie chimed in.</p><p>"Must have been a truly malicious door," Malik added teasingly.</p><p>Hubert laughed.  "Just a really heavy one.  I would love to see those dragon bones..." he trailed off with a wishful sigh.</p><p>"Maybe when we're in Barona again, I can show you," Asbel offered.</p><p>"I'd like that," Hubert confirmed with a smile.</p>
<hr/><p>After dinner, Malik gave Asbel an all too familiar hand signal to stay behind.  It was one he'd used commonly at the academy when he wanted to discuss something with a student privately and, while Asbel wasn't Malik's student any more, it was still an ingrained habit for Asbel to obey the request.</p><p>"Something wrong?" he asked, settling beside Malik in front of the fire in the common area.  Most of the Inn's other guests had already headed upstairs, leaving the two of them amongst the last of the night's stragglers.</p><p>"I thought I would be asking you that," Malik replied gently.  At Asbel's bewildered look, he elaborated, "you seemed uncomfortable at several points during our discussion about crushes with Sophie earlier.  I thought, perhaps, you might appreciate a friendly ear to hear you vent."</p><p>"Oh."  Asbel thought it over slowly and then said, "I really just don't get crushes.  And when I was still in the shared dorms, the other guys would give me trouble over it.  And since I refused to participate in the... tradition," he spoke that word a bit derisively, "of sneaking into the castle's chapel for Water of Absolution, well... they'd give me hell about it.  So I started making up non-existent people to have crushes on just so they'd have one less thing to make fun of me for.  Hubert would never believe I had a reputation for following the rules or being shy at the academy.  But the chapel was where the entrance to the catacombs was and sneaking there as a kid was what got Sophie killed.  And even with her somehow alive again, going back there to save Richard during the civil war was the hardest thing I'd ever done.  I almost did have a panic attack when I opened the hidden entrance."</p><p>"I'm sorry the dorms weren't a particularly welcoming place for you," Malik said, after a long moment.  "I was aware there was some friction between you and the others.  I thought it was because you were more skilled than them and they thought you a show off."</p><p>"Ah, well, that factored in.  What was I supposed to do, though?  Get stuff wrong on purpose?  I could have hurt someone that way," Asbel grumbled.</p><p>"Quite so, not that most young boys have learned that lesson at that age," Malik mused.  "In light of what you said, earlier, about not experiencing crushes of the romantic sort..."</p><p>"I wasn't lying about that," Asbel interjected stubbornly.</p><p>"I believe you," Malik assured him and Asbel unwound a bit.  "You know your feelings far better than anyone else ever could.  However, I feel it only fair to warn you that as a landed Lord, it will be considered your duty to the crown and to the people who live on the lands in your charge, to eventually take a wife and have heirs to continue the lineage and provide stability to Lhant."</p><p>Asbel turned away, feeling a little ill at the idea of it.  "I can always adopt an heir," he muttered petulantly.  Though he didn't voice it, he thought of Sophie and how proud he'd be to call her family.</p><p>"You can, but being a... confirmed bachelor will mean fending off not just the interests of unwed women, but that of other confirmed bachelors as well."  Malik paused a beat before adding, "Windor is a quite forward thinking country in many ways.  But arranged marriages have only recently ceased among the nobility.  And it is far easier for those of common birth to marry - or not - as they see fit than it is for one of noble birth."</p><p>"So, what, you're saying I'm not going to have a choice in this?"  Desperation tinted Asbel's tone.  This... he couldn't bear the thought of being trapped in an unwanted union like Malik was implying.</p><p>"I'm saying, good luck explaining the lack of grandchildren to your mother," Malik retorted dryly.  "If you need a place to hide afterwards, you'll always be welcome wherever I end up after this quest comes to an end.  It's a difficult path that lays ahead of you, particularly if you walk it alone instead of... choosing a match who is similarly disinterested in romance, or at least in romance with men.  But you are my student and I fully admit, now that I am no longer an academy instructor, that you were my favorite student.  And lately you have become a good friend.  Though your duties as a lord are important, I would hate to see you sacrifice parts of yourself that were never meant to be given away in the name of that duty.</p><p>"You will always have a friend and ally in me, Asbel."</p><p>"Thank you, Malik."  Asbel sighed quietly, relieved at least that this was, indeed, something he could push off to the future for now.  Though he was definitely not looking forward to explaining his feelings on the subject of marriage and romance to his mother.</p><p>He knew she was already planning his wedding and would not take it well to learn that wedding would never come to pass.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>While I don't use the exact terms for the different kinds of platonic crushes that Pascal discusses, there's a growing list of words to describe the various kinds of attractions a person can experience.  If you're curious about some of the actual terms, you might look up the following:</p><p>* platonic: squish<br/>* queerplatonic: plush/squash<br/>* alterous: mesh<br/>* aesthetic: swish</p><p>There are a lot more terms out there than I listed and they might seem a little silly when you're unfamiliar with them, but they're no more 'silly' to use than the word crush is.  And you never know, you might find them useful regardless of whether or not you experience romantic attraction.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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